In orthodontics, treatments for achieving alignment of malposed teeth in a patient include applying orthodontic appliances to the patient's teeth or to the patient's oral cavity. One type of orthodontic appliance comprises dental braces. Dental braces typically have two components: orthodontic brackets which are attached to the teeth via a bracket rear face in a rear portion of the bracket, and an orthodontic archwire receivable in a groove formed in a front portion of the bracket. In use, a plurality of teeth of a patient's archform each has a bracket attached thereto, with the archwire received in the respective groove of each of the brackets and extending across the brackets. Archwires are typically made from shape memory alloys which have the ability to recover their shape when heated. The archwire is pre-shaped and attached to the brackets by bending its shape to conform to the general shape of the malposed teeth. When the archwire warms to mouth temperature it reverts to its original shape thereby exerting a force on the teeth to which it is attached to move them.
A number of factors affect the actual force applied to the teeth by the dental braces, and the resultant orthodontic effect. One of these factors is the fit between the bracket groove and the archwire. A good fit is achieved when the full diameter of the archwire is received fully in the bracket groove with minimal relative movement between these two brace components.
However, one or both of the bracket groove and the archwire may deviate in size or shape, resulting in an imperfect fit between the bracket and the archwire. This can lead to a deviation of the expected force to be applied by the dental braces and an unexpected orthodontic effect.
During planning of an orthodontic treatment, dental practitioners may select specific combinations of archwire diameter, archwire material and bracket groove size for a specific orthodontic effect. For example, a stiffer archwire material can exert a higher force than a less stiff material, and a thicker archwire can exert a higher force than a thinner archwire. These selections are made based on predicted forces assuming a correct fit between the archwire and the brackets. Therefore, an imperfect fit between the archwire and the bracket will result in unexpected and unplanned orthodontic effect.
An unexpected orthodontic effect can prolong a patient's treatment duration and extend the pain, inconvenience and expense of orthodontic treatment. It can also cause more serious damage, such as bone resorption and tooth loss.
It is an object of the present technology to ameliorate at least some of the inconveniences present in the prior art.